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The International Conference on Media and Information Literacy for Knowledge Societies was held in Moscow within the framework of the Russian Chairmanship in the UNESCO Information for All Programme

2012-18-07 (Moscow)

In order to raise public awareness of the significance, scale and topicality of the tasks of media and information literacy advocacy among information, media and educational professionals, government executives and public at large the International Conference Media and Information Literacy for Knowledge Societies was held in Moscow, Russian Federation, on 24−28 June, 2012.

The Conference was organised by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, UNESCO Information for All Programme and UNESCO Secretariat, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme, and the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre within the framework of Russia’s chairmanship in the Intergovernmental UNESCO Information for All Programme.

The Conference offered a unique opportunity for the delegates to identify the key existing challenges in the field, to outline policies and professional strategies for the advocacy of media and information literacy (MIL), to promote best practices and strengthen international cooperation among various stakeholders. In particular the following topics were discussed:

MIL Conceptualization within Knowledge Societies

Assessment of national competencies on MIL

Development of MIL indicators

MIL mainstreaming, application and advocacy

MIL capacity building, tools and resources:

MIL in education of professional community and continuous professional development

MIL integration in educational system, roles and responsibilities, national and institutional adaptation of tools and resources, and knowledge sharing

Regarding that MIL is directly linked to UNESCO’s mandate and strategic objectives oriented to build inclusive knowledge societies, holding this Conference is also significant for consolidating and further developing the UNESCO Information for All Programme which was established primarily for providing guidance to all of the UNESCO Member States involved in building an inclusive pluralistic information society.

Executives and experts of key specialized international governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, world leading experts in the field of knowledge societies building; leading researchers and professors of journalism, librarianship and education; executives and representatives of government authorities responsible for educational institutions, libraries, printed and electronic media; representatives of international and national associations of media and information literacy professionals; representatives of organisations and institutions engaged in publishing professional literature on media and information literacy; media practitioners discussed various aspects of MIL and the activities aimed at its promotion worldwide.

Greetings to the Conference by the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, UNESCO, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO Information for All Programme were read out at the Conference opening gala.

The first plenary session was chaired by Evgeny KUZMIN, Chair of the Intergovernmental Council and Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme, President of the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre (Moscow, Russian Federation), and Tatiana MANILOVA, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Education and Information Technologies – Head of the Division of Libraries and Archives of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Russian Federation).

Keynotes were presented by:

Albert BOEKHORST, Professor of the University of Amsterdam; Expert of the European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

The Concept of MIL

Andrew WHITWORTH, Senior Lecturer of the University Of Manchester (Manchester, United Kingdom)

The Design of Media and Information Literacy

Carolyn WILSON, President of the Association for Media Literacy; Instructor of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Western Ontario (Toronto, Canada)

Media Literacy: Reading the Word and the World

Various MIL issues were further discussed at the panel debate by keynote speakers together with Ahmed Saad AL-BASRI, Head of the Information and Internet Department of the Ministry of Culture of Iraq (Baghdad, Iraq), Aharon AVIRAM, Professor and Head of the Center for Futurism in Education of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Chairperson of the Israel National Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme (Beer Sheva, Israel), Petr LAPO, Director of the Belarusian State University Fundamental Library and President of the Belarusian Library Association (Minsk, Belarus), and Alexander SHARIKOV, Professor of the National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russian Federation).

During the next two days five plenary sessions were held:

Literacy within the Context of Knowledge Societies

MIL as a New Concept. Linkages with Other Literacies

MIL for Knowledge Societies: Mainstreaming, Application and Advocacy.

MIL for Knowledge Societies: Capacity Building, Tools and Resources (Regional and National Context)

Serap KURBANOGLU, Chair of the Department of Information Management, Hacettepe University (Ankara, Turkey)

Sharon MADER, Dean of Library Services, University of New Orleans (New Orleans, USA)

Gilbert MAIMBO, Director of Planning, Press and Public Relations Department, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Labour of Zambia (Lusaka, Zambia)

Luisa MARQUARDT, Professor of the University Rome Tre; Director Europe of the International Association of School Librarianship (Rome, Italy)

Maria Carme TORRAS CALVO, Chairperson of the IFLA Information Literacy Section; Library Director of the Bergen University College (Bergen, Norway)

Ramon TUAZON, President of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, Commissioner of the National Commission of the Philippines for UNESCO; Member of the Philippines National IFAP Committee; (Manila, the Philippines)

Heike VOM ORDE, Head of Documentation of the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television, Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation (Munich, Germany)

Andrew WHITWORTH, Senior Lecturer of the University of Manchester (Manchester, United Kingdom)

Carolyn WILSON, President of the Association for Media Literacy; Instructor of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Western Ontario (Toronto, Canada).

The keynote for the second day was presented by Ralph CATTS, Director of the Allimar Community Diagnostics Ltd (Sydney, Australia).

Parallel sessions of two Working groups were held. Irmgarda KASINSKAITE-BUDDEBERG, Programme Specialist of the UNESCO Communication and Information Sector (Paris, UNESCO), headed the Working Group on MIL indicators, aimed at developing a content and construct valid set of MIL indicators for a designated target audience, and at exploring cultural and professional bias. Maria Carme TORRAS CALVO, Chairperson of the IFLA Information Literacy Section; Library Director of the Bergen University College (Bergen, Norway), supervised the work on the identification of strategic directions of MIL promotion worldwide and the elaboration of the Conference Final document – the MIL Declaration.

A special round table Instruments of MIL Promotion. Challenges of the Localization of the UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Teachers was held within the conference with the support by the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE). The primary goal of the round table was to provide a platform for discussing the UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Teachers as one of the important instruments of MIL promotion, to identify key challenges of the Curriculum’s localization with due account for regional and cultural peculiarities. Russian and foreign experts discussed also the use of MIL Handbook developed by the UNESCO IITE in cooperation with the Finnish Society on Media Education in the educational process.

An exhibition of the publications by the Russian UNESCO IFAP Committee and the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre was opened at the Conference.

Today, information and knowledge are commonly recognized as strategic resources for societal, economic, political, educational, technological and cultural development in the countries around the world. During the last few decades, the radical technological, political and economic transformations have provided not only faster access to information and knowledge, but also created new dependencies, complex situations, structures and practices among people, organizations and even entire nations.

For this reason individuals and society in general need information about themselves as well as their physical and social environments. They should also obtain knowledge, attitudes, and the sum of the skills necessary to know when and what information is needed; where and how to obtain that information; how to evaluate it critically and organise it once it is found; and how to use and share it in an ethical and effective way.

All these information and communication related competences are integrated in the concept of Media and Information Literacy (MIL). MIL empowers and endows individuals with knowledge of the functions of the media and information systems and the conditions under which these functions are performed. It assists them and their institutions and organisations to meet their technological, economic, and social challenges, to redress disadvantages, and to advance every individual’s well-being. Media and information literacy (MIL) is essential for observing ethical principles and professional standards in knowledge societies.

AleksandrSHARIKOV, Professor, National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation), and Ramza JABER SAAD, Assistant Secretary General in Ñharge of Information and Communication Programmes, Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO (Lebanon)

Gilbert MAIMBO, Director of Planning, Press and Public Relations Department, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Labour (Zambia), and Sharon MADER, Dean of Library Services, University of New Orleans (USA)

Vincent LIQUETE, Associate Professor, University of Bordeaux (France)

Natalia GENDINA, Director, Research Institute for Information Technologies in Social Sphere, Professor, Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts (Russian Federation)

Ramon TUAZON, President, Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication; Commissioner, the National Commission of the Philippines for UNESCO; Member, the Philippines National IFAP Committee; (Manila, the Philippines)

From left to right: Natalia ANISIMOV, President, "MediaArt Dialogue" (Moldova), and Irina FATEYEVA, Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Education, Chelyabinsk State University (Russian Federation)

From left to right: Irina GONYUKOVA, Minister of Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Sakhalin Oblast (Russian Federation) and Valentina MALYSHEVA, Director, Sakhalin State Scientific Library (Russian Federation)

Sergey KORKONOSENKO, Head of Department of the Theory of Jornalism and Communications, Saint Petersburg State University (Russian Federation)